Increasing Number of S. Florida Condos For Sale; Seen As Further Evidence of Slowdown
The Sun-Sentinel is reporting further proof of the South Florida housing market slowdown. According to yesterday’s edition, roughly 25 percent of the 379 condominium units at The Moorings in Lantana are for sale.
An agent with a listing there says that many of the sellers are investors looking to bail. The real estate agent, who asked not to be identified, says most of the listings are in the mid-$300,000 range, but some people are asking more than $600,000. A few years back, preconstruction prices were about $150,000.
The development, built by the Miami-based Related Group of Florida, opened last year but is just now closing sales on the last few condos because of hurricane delays. David Staples, director of sales for the project, said turnover at The Moorings is indicative of the present Florida real estate climate.
Deerfield Beach housing analyst Jack McCabe, meanwhile, said that while he doesn’t have the specific statistics for the Moorings, some condo projects have even a larger percentage of units for sale. Plenty of speculators in Florida and across the country are getting nervous because they had counted on high appreciation rates and can’t afford payments on these investment properties. The time may come when they’ll have to dump them for a loss.
“A lot of people are on the hot seat,” McCabe said. “They got into real estate but were not that solvent.”
Built on an old boat yard, the Moorings emerged as one of the hottest Palm Beach County real estate developments a few years ago, during the peak of the boom. Buyers camped out overnight for chances to buy there, and police were present to maintain order.
In a similar case, Tom Gonzales, owner of Shadow Marine in Fort Lauderdale, bought himself the pricey penthouse in Broward County for $11 million. The top floor at The Coconut Grove Residences is one of 64 condos expected to be completed by May 2007.
But is this just another case of investors buying at the height of the boom and setting themselves up for a fall? Only time will tell for sure, but with Florida home loan rates on the rise, it doesn’t look rosy for real estate in the Sunshine State for the rest of 2006 — unless you are a first-time buyer, in which case you might be able to low-ball.
